COVID-19: Dubai hospital waives off Rs 1.52 crore bill of Telangana construction worker

Guwahati: Rajesh Lingaiah Odnala, a Telangana construction worker in Dubai got a major reprieve when the authorities of Dubai Hospital waived off the medical bill amounting to Rs 1.52 crore on "humanitarian grounds." A volunteer also arranged Rs 10,000 and free tickets for the man to return home.

Forty-two-year-old Rajesh Lingaiah Odnala, a construction worker hailing from Jagtial district in Telangana, received a boon from messiahs in disguise when the Dubai hospital waived off the medical bill amounting to Rs 1.52 crore in Indian currency after 80 days of treatment.

Rajesh had been working in Dubai for the last two years and he was admitted to 'Dubai Hospital' in Dubai on April 23 after a period of illness. It soon came to light that the construction worker had contracted a COVID-19 infection.

Although he recovered after 80 days of treatment, his joy soon came to an end when he was handed over a bill of 7,62,555 Dirhams (Rs 1 crore 52 lakh) by the Dubai Hospital.

Gundelli Narasimha, president of Gulf Workers Protection Society in Dubai, was alerted that the migrant worker did not have the amount of money to pay the bill and he took the matter to the attention of Sumanth Reddy, an Indian Consulate volunteer in Dubai.

Reddy and another volunteer Ashok Kotecha of BAPS Swaminarayan Trust then requested Harjeet Singh, Consul (Labour) at the office of Consulate General of India in Dubai to intervene. Singh wrote a letter to the management of Dubai Hospital requesting them to waive off the bill on 'humanitarian grounds'. Lady luck then smiled at Rajesh and he was discharged from the hospital without having to pay a single rupee.

Ashoka Kotecha also arranged flight tickers for Rajesh and an escort Dyavara Kankaiah and they were also handed a sum of Rs. 10,000 for their expenses. Rajesh finally reached Hyderabad on Wednesday and has now been sent for 14-day home quarantine back in his native village.

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